Ofsted and inclusion: 8 key themes

by Matt Bromley

Those who know my work or are regular readers of this blog will be aware that my (forgive the cliché) passion – the fuel that lights my fire – is inclusion. Put another way, the overriding objective in all I do is ensuring every child gets a fair chance in school and in later life. I don’t want a child’s birth to be their destiny; I want everyone, regardless of background, starting point, and need, to find a series of open doors in the corridor of life, not a padlock and chain.

Equity is therefore my endeavour: this means doing more for those who start with less or who face additional barriers to achievement. It doesn’t mean treating everyone identically; rather, it means treating people differently in order to account for existing differences and disadvantages. Most of my books and articles, training courses and conference speeches, and school improvement work are in pursuit of this goal.

Why? Because life isn’t fair and society isn’t equal. Schools operate on an unlevel playing field (another cliché that’s also true). And we educators can’t level the playing field alone. That requires political will and societal reform. But we can – if you permit me to mount a laboured metaphor atop the clichés – do more to identify the children who are kicking the ball uphill and then help them reach the goal. We can buy them better football boots, give them expert coaching to better control the ball, and perhaps take the ball from them and kick it a few yards uphill ourselves.

I therefore welcomed Ofsted’s focus on inclusion in the 2025 framework and agreed with the inspectorate that, if schools are getting it right for their most disadvantaged learners, they’re likely getting it right for everyone else.

Inclusion is now the lens through which schools are inspected. Whilst I support this shift – and the focus the government is also placing on inclusion – I acknowledge it puts a greater burden on inclusion leaders – Pupil Premium Coordinators, SENDCos, and suchlike.

Indeed, the discussion about inclusion starts immediately – it’s a central tenet of the Monday afternoon 90-minute planning call that takes place via videoconference. On that call, inspectors ask leaders to articulate their approach to inclusion – and how they define it within their own context. Then they interrogate leaders’ understanding of the barriers their most disadvantaged learners face and what they do to overcome them.

Then, on day 1 of the Ofsted visit on Tuesday, there’s a meeting with inclusion leaders, as well as an inclusion learning walk – which encompasses not just lessons, but what happens in corridors and canteens – and a focus on what it’s like to be a disadvantaged learner at the school. For this, inspectors shadow ‘case sample’ pupils – a group of around six learners who represent various forms of disadvantage and vulnerability. These learners are observed in and out of lessons, interviewed in small groups, and their work is reviewed.

And the focus of all these investigations is demonstrating how leaders know that disadvantaged pupils achieve, belong, and thrive – the three principles that now underpin inspection.

Inspectors are explicitly looking at the quality and impact of leadership decisions rather than the actions taken and the paper trail.

So, in an effort to help, here is my advice for inclusion leaders such as Pupil Premium Coordinators, to maximise success during inspection…

Let’s start with eight key themes that inspectors are likely to explore during meetings and learning walks.

Eight key themes

1. Strategic leadership of disadvantage

Inclusion leaders can expect questions such as:

Who are your disadvantaged pupils?
What are the main barriers for your pupils?
How do you know?
How have these barriers changed over time?
What are your current priorities?

Inspectors are looking for leaders who understand their own context, not leaders who simply quote national research.

Therefore, you should be able to explain:

Your school’s demographic profile
Trends over several years
Changing cohorts
Persistent barriers
Strengths as well as weaknesses

2. Identification of barriers

This is probably the most important discussion. Inspectors want to hear something like: “We don’t treat all disadvantaged pupils as a homogenous group.” As such, articulate:

Academic barriers such as…

vocabulary
literacy
reading
attendance
prior attainment
curriculum access

Pastoral barriers such as…

mental health
anxiety
safeguarding
family instability
financial hardship

Participation barriers such as…

trips
clubs
music
leadership
cultural capital

The strongest schools explain that barriers differ by year group and individual pupils.

3. How funding decisions were made

Inspectors will almost certainly ask, “Why did you choose these interventions?” They will expect decisions linked to evidence such as:

diagnostic assessment
internal data
attendance analysis
behaviour trends
pupil voice
parent feedback
external research (particularly the EEF evidence base)
internal research (what your own institutional intelligence tells you works here)

Not: “We’ve always done it this way.”

4. Impact, impact, impact

This is now far more important than describing provision. Instead of saying, “We run a breakfast club,” be ready to explain:

Attendance for these pupils improved by…
Persistent absence reduced…
Reading ages increased…
Behaviour incidents reduced…
Participation increased…
Pupils report greater belonging…

The toolkit repeatedly emphasises impact rather than activity.

5. Achievement

Expect discussions around:

attainment
progress
curriculum success
subject performance
phonics (primary)
reading
maths
writing
GCSE outcomes (secondary)

But inspectors will also explore:

trends
progress over time
comparison with similar schools
whether gaps are narrowing

…rather than simply asking whether disadvantaged pupils match national averages.

6. Attendance

Attendance continues to be a problem for disadvantaged pupils who are more than twice as likely to be absent as their peers. If that’s the case for you, be prepared to discuss:

attendance trends
persistent absence
severe absence
punctuality
impact of interventions

Including:

individual case studies
strategic changes
evaluation

7. Behaviour

The latest suspensions and exclusions guidance emphasises understanding the causes of poor behaviour and taking an equitable approach, avoiding penalising pupils because they face additional challenges or are unable to meet a school’s expectations without reasonable adjustments and support. The guidance also asks us to consider whether it is safe to externally suspend disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils.

Inspection questions on the subject may include:

Are disadvantaged pupils overrepresented in sanctions?
Suspensions?
Exclusions?
Why?
What have leaders done?

Inspectors want evidence that leaders understand patterns and evaluate them.

8. Participation and belonging

This area is much more prominent under the new framework and will be even more so once the Enrichment Framework is fully in play. The Enrichment Framework focuses on equity and access – it’s not about offering more extra-curricular activities; it’s about making sure disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils can and do access those opportunities and the positive impact they have. As such, be ready to discuss whether disadvantaged pupils can and do access: